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Monday, March 2, 2009

Dr. Steven Bratman and Orthorexia Nervosa

I recently discovered that my favorite Doc in Colorado, Steven Bratman M.D., is an author and coined the term "Orthorexia Nervosa" to describe people overly obsessed with eating healthy food.

I wanted to share this video with you. It's a spot from 20/20 and features bits of an interview with Dr. Bratman.

I purchased his book, "Health Food Junkies" and will be reviewing it on my blog within the next few weeks. In the mean time you can watch this video. It's really interesting. Though I think I'll mention that Dr. Bratman says not to take this video too seriously. 20/20 has a tendency to cut and paste a lot of different things to make the story what they want it to be. On that note, he also told me that Johnny is definitely Anorexic as opposed to having Orthorexia. But, it's an intro for you at the least, and I found it to be intriguing.

If you want a jumpstart on the book, you can pick one up here at Amazon.com. Oh, and don't forget to visit Dr. Bratman's website here.

4 comments:

A February 2000 story about organic vegetables on 20/20 included statements by Stossel that tests had shown that neither organic nor conventional produce samples contained any pesticide residue, and that organic food was more likely to be contaminated by E. coli bacteria. The Environmental Working Group objected to his report, mainly questioning his statements about bacteria, but also managed to determine that the produce had never been tested for pesticides. They communicated this to Stossel, but after the story's producer backed Stossel's recollection that the test results had been as described, the story was rebroadcast months later, uncorrected, and with a postscript in which Stossel reiterated his claim. Later, after a report in The New York Times confirmed the Environmental Working Group's claims, ABC News suspended the producer of the segment for a month and reprimanded Stossel. Stossel apologized, saying that he had thought the tests had been conducted as reported. However, he asserted that the gist of his report had been accurate................................John Stossel epitomizes irresponsible, agenda-driven "journalism."

Yes, a few people go to extremes with their diet obsessions, no doubt. But how is this report by Stossel balanced? This preview is hardly balanced.

Would Stossel feed his kids peanut butter made from that food processor in Georgia? Hell no. He has a bizarre libertarian belief system that does not accept the need for government regulation. This is a contrived story that tries to take our attention away from what's happened to our country's food industry.

Thanks for all your comments! That's why I put in my post not to take the video too seriously. I have never liked Stossel, and always thought of him as a slimeball. I believe they used Dr. Bratmans answers (gotten from a separate question/answer interview) in the way they wanted to.

Dr. Bratmans book addresses the disorder, and does not discount the value of healthy and organic foods. :)

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